These Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are truly one of my favorite fall recipes I’ve every made! They have everything you love about the original version but they’re lightened up and have the most delicious pumpkin twist!
PUMPKIN cinnamon rolls, oh my!!! Is there really anything better than a big, doughy, sweet roll on a crisp fall morning? I think not!
These Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are a TEASER from my brand new Fall Collection mini cookbook! The collection is full of brand new exclusive recipes with a focus on a fall seasonal ingredients and season favorites! The collection will be available for purchase this Friday (or you can become a part of Fit Cookie club and get it for free!!)
The base of these cinnamon rolls combines some of our favorite fall flavors: pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. They’re sweet with a little spice and just the right amount of pumpkin flavor to really take them to the next level! And don’t let process intimidate you! These truly are easier than you think and definitely WORTH IT! 😉
These Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are even better than regular cinnamon rolls because they’re lightened up so that you can still enjoy all your other breakfast favorites. I love pairing these with a simple egg scramble and piece of turkey bacon or sausage for the perfect sweet and savory combo + macro-balanced meal!
Trust me, these healthy homemade cinnamon rolls will be your new go-to recipe on fall weekends and would make the perfect breakfast or brunch Thanksgiving morning!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS HEALTHY PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS RECIPE
- The ULTIMATE fall breakfast!! Perfect for Sunday brunch, Thanksgiving morning or dessert any night of the week!
- Lightened up and lower calories than traditional cinnamon rolls but still filled with tons of creamy, sweet, cinnamon flavor!
- Just 205 calories per HUGE cinnamon roll!
- Doughy, light, sweet, these fluffy pumpkin cinnamon roll are truly next level!
- An EASY classic cinnamon roll recipe with the perfect amount of pumpkin twist! Perfect for any morning- during the fall time or not!
- Detailed instructions make it easy to follow along! You’ll be surprised at how easy they are!
- One of my favorite pumpkin recipes to date!!!
INGREDIENTS
- Milk – I used unsweetened almond milk but use any milk of choice!
- Light butter – I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Regular butter or dairy-free butter work great too!
- Canned pumpkin – not pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin is unsweetened, real pumpkin. I used Libby’s because it has the best orange color and texture.
- Fast Rising Yeast – if you are using active dry yeast instead of fast-rising yeast, you may need to let dough sit longer as it may take longer for it to rise.
- Egg
- Sweetener – I used monk fruit sweetener and golden monk fruit sweetener. You could use regular sugar and brown sugar, Truvia, Swerve, coconut sugar, whatever sweetener you fancy here!
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Cinnamon
- Flour – All-purpose flour, cake flour or bread flour works best here! I recommend Bob Red Mill’s 1:1 or King Arthur’s measure for measure if using gluten-free flour. I have not tested this recipe with almond flour, oat flour, or whole grain flour, so i’m not sure if they’ll work. You can definitely try! Just note that it won’t have the same ‘bakery taste’ as it does when you use normal all purpose or cake flour. A better option to regular whole wheat flour would be white whole wheat flour or whole wheat bread flour. I would not recommend using coconut flour for this recipe.
- Cream cheese – I used reduced fat cheese cheese. Feel free to use regular cream cheese, fat-free, Neufchatel (Greek cream cheese), or vegan cream cheese.
- Powdered sugar – I used powdered monk fruit sweetener. Any confectioner’s sugar works!
- Pure maple syrup – can use sugar-free syrup if preferred.
- Vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS
FOR THE PUMPKIN DOUGH:
- In a large bowl, microwave the milk and butter for 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until temperature has reached 110 degrees F (use a thermometer for this). It should feel like bath water. Temperature is important here. If the milk is too cool or too hot, the yeast won’t rise.
- Whisk in the pumpkin, egg, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Double check that the temperature is still 110-115F then whisk in the yeast.
- Transfer the liquid mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and attach your dough hook. Gradually add in the flour and protein a little at a top and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes until flour is well incorporated. Alternatively, you can just keep the liquid in the same bowl then add the flour and protein powder a little at a time, folding with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Keep kneading in your stand mixer for another 3 minutes (or transfer to a floured surface and knead for 3 minutes). Then let the dough rest for 10 minutes while you gather your Cinnamon Swirl ingredients.
FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL + ASSEMBLY:
- Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. After the dough rests 10 minutes, briefly knead the dough again then roll out into a 14×8 inch large rectangle using a rolling pin.
- Spread the butter on top all across the pumpkin dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. I know it seems like a lot, but a lot is absorbed in the dough when baked.
- Roll the dough up hot-dog style and gently press the end of the dough into the log to seal. Use a sharp serrated knife or piece of floss to carefully cut into 12 even rolls. Spray a 9×13-inch dish with cooking spray and place the rolls in the dish with room to expand. Cover the rolls tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 60-90 minutes in a warm place. I just went ahead and cut my oven on (350F) and let the rolls sit on top of the warm oven.
- After the rolls have doubled in size, bake for 20-25 minutes (I took mine out right at 20 min) or until golden brown. If you notice the tops are getting too brown too quickly, loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil and continue baking.
FOR THE FROSTING:
- Beat the frosting ingredients together until smooth. Spread on the warm pumpkin rolls. Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
THE FLOSS CUTTING TRICK
Have you guys heard of this? It can be easy to smash your cinnamon rolls with a knife, so using floss helps keep them nice and circular! Or you can just cut into slices first and then roll up individually like is already in the recipe card.
For the floss cutting trick: Slide a long piece of dental floss under the log of dough. Wrap it around the top. Then, pull tightly in opposite directions to pull the floss through the roll. Repeat going down the log, slicing about 2″ each time until you’ve cut the whole log into rolls.
IMPORTANT NOTES + TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ROLLS
These took a a little bit more time (and effort) than most of my recipes, but still easy to follow along! There are just a couple of parts of this recipe I want to highlight and emphasize the importance of.
- Appropriate liquid temperature: A VERY IMPORTANT key to this recipe is making sure the liquid ingredients are the right temperature to optimally allow the yeast to let dough rise. If the liquid is too hot, it will kill the yeast. If it is not warm enough, the yeast will not be activated to rise. The goal is between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. An instant thermometer is best for this. But if you don’t have one, just aim for warm milk (not scalding) that feels like bath water temperature.
- Room temperature ingredients: This goes along with the appropriate temperature stated above. We don’t want to add a cold egg and cold pumpkin because then it’s going to bring the temperature of the liquid down, therefore not allowing the yeast to rise. If adding cold ingredients, just make sure you reheat the liquid to get to 100-115F again before adding the yeast.
- Kneading the dough: You want to make sure you knead the dough for at least 3 minutes before flattening it out.
- Let the dough rest: I know you’re eager to get to rolling, but don’t skip letting the dough rest for 10 minutes. This rest time allows the gluten in the rolls to relax, making the dough infinitely easier to knead and shape.
HOW TO STORE
Keep stored in an airtight container. Rolls will last 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
HOW TO REHEAT
You can reheat these cinnamon rolls in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through. Cover with tin foil to avoid drying out. You can also reheat them in the air fryer at 350F for 5-8 minutes (cover with tin foil as well).
If you’re reheating in the microwave, I recommend placing a damp paper towel over your cinnamon roll and microwaving for 20-30 seconds or until warmed though. Be sure not to overheat for too long or it will harden the cinnamon roll!
Another tip is if you know you won’t be eating all 12 at one time, you can leave the frosting off the ones you know you will be reheating to avoid a mess when reheating!
CAN THESE HEALTHY PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS BE MADE IN ADVANCE?
Yes! You can go ahead and prep these rolls the night before to make it super easy the next morning! You can do this by either just prepping the dough (pausing at step 5) OR going ahead and making the rolls so that they are ready to be put in the oven!
WANT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you try these Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and love them, please rate this recipe!
You can also tag me on Instagram or Tik Tok, @LaurenFitFoodie. It makes my day seeing your yummy recreations!
Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
These Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are truly one of my favorite fall recipes I've every made! They have everything you love about the original version but they're lightened up and have the most delicious pumpkin twist!
Ingredients
Pumpkin dough:
- 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (80g) – or any milk
- 1/4 cup light butter (56g) - or regular butter
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin, room temperature (180g)
- 1 packet fast rising yeast (7g)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener or sugar (48g)*
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3.5 cups all purpose or cake flour (420g) + extra for rolling
For the cinnamon swirl:
- 1/4 cup light butter (56g) - or melted butter
- 1/2 cup golden monk fruit sweetener or brown sugar (92g)*
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
For the frosting:
- 4-oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup powered monk fruit sweetener (72g) – or regular powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup (30g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the pumpkin dough:
- In a large bowl, microwave the milk and butter for 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until temperature has reached 110 degrees F (use a thermometer for this). It should feel like bath water. Temperature is important here. If the milk is too cool or too hot, the yeast won’t rise.
- Whisk in the pumpkin, egg, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Double check that the temperature is still 110-115F then whisk in the yeast.
- Transfer the liquid mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and attach your dough hook. Gradually add in the flour and protein a little at a top and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes until flour is well incorporated. Alternatively, you can just keep the liquid in the same bowl then add the flour and protein powder a little at a time, folding with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Keep kneading in your stand mixer for another 3 minutes (or transfer to a floured surface and knead for 3 minutes). Then let the dough rest for 10 minutes while you gather your Cinnamon Swirl ingredients.
Cinnamon swirl + assembly:
- Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. After the dough rests 10 minutes, briefly knead the dough again then roll out into a 14x8 inch large rectangle using a rolling pin.
- Spread the butter on top all across the pumpkin dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. I know it seems like a lot, but a lot is absorbed in the dough when baked.
- Roll the dough up hot-dog style and gently press the end of the dough into the log to seal. Use a sharp serrated knife or piece of floss to carefully cut into 12 even rolls. Spray a 9x13-inch dish with cooking spray and place the rolls in the dish with room to expand. Cover the rolls tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 60-90 minutes in a warm place. I just went ahead and cut my oven on (350F) and let the rolls sit on top of the warm oven.
- After the rolls have doubled in size, bake for 20-25 minutes (I took mine out right at 20 min) or until golden brown. If you notice the tops are getting too brown too quickly, loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil and continue baking.
For the frosting:
- Beat the frosting ingredients together until smooth. Spread on the warm pumpkin rolls.
Notes
To store: Cover leftover rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
-
The floss cutting trick: Slide a long piece of dental floss under the log of dough. Wrap it around the top. Then, pull tightly in opposite directions to pull the floss through the roll. Repeat going down the log, slicing about 2" each time until you've cut the whole log into rolls.
-
*Nutrition calculated using monk fruit sweetener, golden monk fruit sweetener and powdered monk fruit sweetener.
MFP Entry: LFF Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 roll (99g)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 205Total Fat: 5.9gSaturated Fat: 1.3gCarbohydrates: 30.5gFiber: 1.7gSugar: 0.9gProtein: 7.5g
Can you use gluten free flour?
I haven’t tried with gluten-free flour yet so I am not totally sure. I do think it would work, each GF flour is just so different I think it would really just depend on what kind you use. If you (or anyone else reading this) does try with gluten-free flour, we would love to know your feedback and what kind of GF flour you used!
Can these be made the night before and rise over night before baking??
Yes you can prep them in advance! I would stop at step 8 and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and keep stored in the fridge. Then the next day remove from refrigerator (keeping them covered) and let the cinnamon rolls rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until puffy. Then bake like usual!